Paper writing 101

Choosing English Research Paper Topics

“Research paper topics not coupled with writing process will never get any bigger then the brain cell they occupied.”

Academic writing always has a goal. That’s why it is important to start writing with the end in mind, namely with visualization, outlining, or mind mapping the complete structure of your paper. Creating the whole picture of your work is vital, but you will not get under way if you don’t have a brainwave, which guides the train of your thoughts to the concluding idea in the course of writing.

Ideas are intangible things that make meaning on paper and convey explicitly or implicitly the point a writer wants to express to the readers.

Therefore, personal vision, cohesive philosophy, and creative approach are crucial to create a worthwhile academic paper. In fact, writing well is a matter of uncovering the right balance of the given attributes, using a variety of appropriate organizational strategies, practicing writing systematically, and reading much.

At your English classes you are given a wonderful opportunity to foster the proficiency with the language itself, bring your writing skills to perfection, and vent your most bizarre ideas on paper.

Writing research papers for the English class is not an easy matter, because you should apply all the acquired skills in writing one paper. While writing English research papers, you have to pay close attention to everything from development of your research paper thesis to mechanics of your writing.

Writing-across-the-curriculum perspective challenges you to write in many different fields, not only at the English classes.

A time honored strategy for choosing good topics for research papers says that you should point out the topic, which you are eager to investigate and get to know more about. So, take some time to consider how much personal experience and knowledge you have about each subject. Be sure to rely on the in-depth study of research paper ideas rather than on the random choice.

When you are looking through research paper topics, there are usually clues within the assignment to prompt you how to approach writing English research papers. The main point is to look for clues that can assist you in preparing and writing your paper.

The key terms stated in good topics for research papers suggest the kind of reasoning you should be using in your assignment. Such words as how, why, compare, contrast, evaluate, analyze, argue, explicitly show what method of development the topic you will apply in writing. The peculiar feature of English research papers topics is that they can be developed in different types of research papers. [check: http://www.craftonhills.edu/Current_Students/Library/Reference/Research_Topics]

English research paper topics have dual focus, because they are oriented on the development of both cognitively demanding academic language in the content areas and on the enhancement of interpersonal communicative skills.

Here you will find an extensive listing of research paper ideas that will help you trigger off the process of research paper writing and provide you a fruitful ground for further research:

“It is unfair that in our society entertainers and professional athletes earn millions of dollars per year, while certain professionals who provide essential services, such as nurses and teachers, make comparatively low salaries.”

Do you agree with this statement? State your opinion clearly in a fully developed research paper, using examples to support your argument. Be sure to imagine and argue against opposing viewpoints.

“Sports is an important part of any educational program for it develops leadership and independent thinking.” Explain whether you agree with this statement based upon your own experience.

Keats often wrote about his poetry in letters to friends and family. See if you can find letters from Keats in which he discusses either Otho the Great or Ode on a Grecian Urn. Do his comments shed light on the work? Is it useful to know what he thought of his work? Do you find his comments explain anything?

The Bet, “a famous short story by Chekhov begins with a discussion of the relative merits of capital punishment and life-imprisonment. One character argues that capital punishment is more “humane” because “execution kills instantly” while “life-imprisonment kills by degrees.”

A second character disagrees, claiming that both forms of punishment are equally “immoral,” yet he goes on to state that if he were offered a choice between the two he would choose life-imprisonment because “it’s better to live, even under terrible circumstances, than not to live at all.”

Picture yourself in a court, waiting to be sentenced. If the judge were to offer you a choice between these two punishments, which would you choose and why? In a thoughtful reasoned argument, clearly state your position.

Real generosity is a matter of priorities. When you give away or give up something you don’t care about, you’re not being generous. Generosity consists of giving up something you value for the sake of another person. Give an example from your life of a generous act, explaining why the act exhibited generosity: how important was the given thing to the giver and to the recipient?

Some educators favour putting “gifted” students in special classes because they will learn more if grouped according to high test scores. Others object on the ground that students with lower scores will be deprived of the example and the competition they need and also because it is “undemocratic” to group students according to such scores. What do you think? Argue for or against putting students with high test scores in their own classes. Develop your reasons clearly and deal with important objections to your position.

Some people put off enjoyment, travel and relaxation for their “old age” or retirement, although many may become seriously ill or even die before they allow themselves these pleasures. Others have fun and “party” from day to day and may wind up with little pleasure, poor health, and no money for the future.

Is it better for people to live each day as it comes, plan for the distant future, or practice some other alternative? Give specific examples of how you think people can best satisfy and fulfil their lives and also experience success in their lives.

Form a research paper around the meaning of these words as they apply to you or life in general. “We always move, it seems, through a present we do not care to experience toward some future time and place at which real life will finally begin.” (John W. Aldridge, in “Civilization in the United States”)

“When information is withheld from the public by those in power, the people soon become ignorant of matters that affect them, distrustful of those who govern them, and – eventually – incapable of determining their own destiny.” “Without censorship, things can get terribly confused in the public mind. Harmful, hurtful, distasteful things may be expressed, coarsening the culture and habituating the public to terrible things.”

These two quotations represent conflicting attitudes toward the amount of information which should be made public. In a reasoned research papers, support either of these positions or suggest a third, using concrete examples, when you can, to support your position.

Increased life expectancy and a wave of Baby Boomers born after World War II followed by falling birth rates in America indicate that elderly people will make up a larger and larger percentage of the population of the United States in coming years.